Georgia Canoe - Kayak Paddlers - The Annual Ground Hog Day Tunnel Run Feb 2 2007

The Annual Ground Hog Day Tunnel Run Feb 2 2007

       A trip report for the Ground Hog Day Tunnel Run on the Etowah. Forty five people showed up for this annual event including about a half dozen sea kayakers, a huge cataraft, three good old boys in a twelve foot fiberglass tandem, a couple of kids in shorts paddling sit on tops, and John H in an patched inner tube.

       The sky was slightly overcast and drizzling a cold frosty mist. By 10am things had warmed up to the low thirties so the ground was soft and muddy at the put in. That is where we had our first mishap when a tandem boat containing Robert H and Kelly H slid into the water and immediately turned over. They missed their roll. They missed the throw rope. They missed the cold beer David B threw to them. Mostly they missed the feeling in their arms and legs.
       Once on the river the kids with the sit on tops complained a bit about the self bailing feature of their boats. To their credit the complaints soon ceased. I personally prefer to hear complaining to pathetic sobbing. People really do turn blue when they get really cold.

       Belton D, Buddy G and some fat guy in the fiberglass boat kept getting hung up on rocks, trees and any where the water was less than two foot deep. Otherwise the route to the tunnel was only marred by the chatter of teeth. We did find another use for duct tape that was heretofore unknown. It seems that Karen S’s fingers were no longer able to hold her paddle, “I’m not going to make it. Yall go on without me.” so we duct taped the paddle to her hands. At this point we still believed that we would leave no one behind. The duct tape was brilliant. Ira F should get a merit badge of some kind.

       Once at the tunnel William G got out of his boat to look into the tunnel when he slipped into the water and began to get swept down stream. As he went thru we could him banging against the walls of the tunnel. Gina J said he might need his boat so we shoved it in after him. After some discussion Jamie H chunked her first aid kit into the tunnel and opted to paddle around. A few kayaks followed her. Denise K said “things could be worse”. As we all shot her a nasty look it began to rain. Nancy shook her head then said, “Well now it can’t get worse.” It was then that the rain turned to sleet.

       By now Ed and Lamar had gotten impatient and were in a shoving match to see who would go thru next. Ed insisted that since he was wearing a hard hat it was obvious that he should go next. Above their banter the roar of the tunnel soon began to annoy me. The hideous buzzing grind reminded me of an alarm clock. Wait. It was my alarm clock. I shut it off and rolled over, truly relieved that not one single person had signed up to run the tunnel today.